Principal RF Engineer

MBDA UK; Stevenage; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 61,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus up to £2,500

Pension up to 14%

Overtime pay

Flexi Leave up to 15 days

Flexible working arrangements

Enhanced parental leave

Site facilities: subsidised meals, car

Job summary

MBDA UK is seeking an experienced RF engineer for the Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) team in Stevenage. You will design and maintain RF equipment, run real-time simulations with missile hardware, and collaborate across electronics, software and systems teams to extend capabilities.

The role requires a broad engineering background with RF, Linux, and C++ knowledge, and offers hybrid working with on-site workload considerations. BPSS security checks apply for successful candidates.

Qualifications

• Broad engineering background with RF design and testing experience.
• Experience with real-time simulation or hardware-in-the-loop is desirable.
• Familiarity with Linux operating system and C++ is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain RF hardware and software for the HWIL team.
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to enable new simulation capabilities.
• Integrate microcontrollers into RF hardware and troubleshoot interfaces.

Skills

Radio Frequency design

System performance analysis

Interface debugging

Hardware/Software design requirements

Real-time systems design

Linux

C++

Raspberry Pi integration

Tools

Linux

Raspberry Pi

Job description

You will be able to adapt to new engineering situations and be comfortable in abstracting detail in order to understand the simulation and missile’s behaviour! Salary: Up to £55,000 depending on experience Dynamic (hybrid) working: 4 days per week on-site due to workload classification Security Clearance: British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. As a minimum and after offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team.

What we can offer you:

• Company bonus: Up to £2,500 (based on company performance and will vary year to year)
• Pension: maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%
• Overtime: opportunity for paid overtime
• Flexi Leave: Up to 15 additional days
• Flexible working: We welcome applicants who are looking for flexible working arrangements
• Enhanced parental leave: offers up to 26 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave -enhancements are available for paternity leave, neonatal leave and fertility testing and treatments
• Facilities: Fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking and much more…

The opportunity:

We are looking for ambitious engineers with a growth mind-set to join our team. If you are the right person for us, you will seek a supportive environment, surrounded by passionate experts while being a part of a collaborative and driven team. The Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) team conduct the most complete test of missiles other than a firing and are MBDA’s Missile test track. We design complex, real-time simulations that surround real missile hardware to allow us to ‘fire missiles indoors’. As a HWIL RF engineer, you will be responsible for designing and developing and maintaining new and existing RF equipment and working with multi-disciplinary teams to combine RF, electronics engineering and software development to produce new capabilities that enable the HWIL team to run new simulations.

What we want from you:

• Broad engineering experience with deeper experience in some of the following skill areas:
• Radio Frequency design and testing
• System performance analysis
• Interface debugging and system integration
• Hardware/Software design requirements
• System design for real-time applications
• Familiarity with Linux operating system
• Familiarity with computer science (C++ an advantage)
• Integration of microcontrollers into RF hardware (e.g. Raspberry Pi)

Our company:

Peace is not a given, Freedom is not a given, Sovereignty is not a given MBDA is a leading defence organisation. We are proud of the role we play in supporting the Armed Forces who protect our nations. We partner with governments to work together towards a common goal, defending our freedom. We are proud of our employee-led networks, examples include: Gender Equality, Pride, Menopause Matters, Parents and Carers, Armed Forces, Ethnic Diversity, Neurodiversity, Disability and more… We recognise that everyone is unique, and we encourage you to speak to us should you require any advice, support or adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Follow us on LinkedIn (MBDA), X (@MBDA_UK), Instagram (MBDA_UK) and Glassdoor or visit our MBDA Careers website for more information.

What we do matters.

Because defence matters.

As a leading company in the defence industry we support our nations by delivering essential military capabilities, both for today and the future. We are proud to be an award-winning employer and are proud of the growing diversity of our workforce. Our people are the ones who drive our constant innovation and deliver against challenging targets.